tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post3169662949416482537..comments2024-02-29T03:57:00.088-05:00Comments on The Mermaid's Tale: The non-biodegradability of plastic and the evolution of the human handAnne Buchananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212151396672651221noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-20667504834341860022014-01-06T07:20:16.904-05:002014-01-06T07:20:16.904-05:00Just linking readers back to another great discuss...Just linking readers back to another great discussion of many of these issues in 2013 at the MT: <a href="http://ecodevoevo.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-ifs-of-natural-selection.html" rel="nofollow">Here</a>Holly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-45686598586076056412014-01-02T13:16:39.445-05:002014-01-02T13:16:39.445-05:00Ack, yes! Though it is also rather spooky.Ack, yes! Though it is also rather spooky.Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-49715239367737609272014-01-02T12:38:16.277-05:002014-01-02T12:38:16.277-05:00Of course that should be "spoof" not &qu...Of course that should be "spoof" not "spook"John R. Vokeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03822243132435056442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-63780267170358968622014-01-02T07:13:24.017-05:002014-01-02T07:13:24.017-05:00You're modern with a weird brain all poisoned ...You're modern with a weird brain all poisoned by culture. What you want is irrelevant. The question is, What did A. sediba, I mean, A. erotimanus want? That's for us to reconstruct with endocast morphology, body size/testicle size estimates, and evolutionary genetics. Holly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-47563519666174816652014-01-02T00:51:11.346-05:002014-01-02T00:51:11.346-05:00I don't know about you all, but I don't wa...I don't know about you all, but I don't want any chimpanzee hand touching me there.Texbrithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07375489043245888060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-78427753043312903922014-01-01T14:33:44.618-05:002014-01-01T14:33:44.618-05:00Geez, so Freud got at least ONE thing right after ...Geez, so Freud got at least ONE thing right after all? Amazing.<br />Have a good New Year, John, and we look forward to another year of interesting and stimulating interchanges with you.Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-9984915434418935372014-01-01T14:18:14.379-05:002014-01-01T14:18:14.379-05:00Back in the 1970s, there was a learning textbook (...Back in the 1970s, there was a learning textbook (Elements of Behaviour?) that contained a spook chapter as an appendix that used the same just-so story telling to explain/challenge Freudian and related ideas about the behaviour of human babies. Given Freud's obsession with explanations rooted in sexual pleasure, they argued, instead, that the reason babies stick their fingers in every orifice, manipulate faeces, and, yes, fondle their genitals inter alia is to ``gratify the digits''. They called it the theory of digital gratification.John R. Vokeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03822243132435056442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-18528837950599432392014-01-01T13:25:51.311-05:002014-01-01T13:25:51.311-05:00And to you! Here's to many interesting exchan...And to you! Here's to many interesting exchanges in the coming year!Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-51946544139192476962014-01-01T12:56:44.799-05:002014-01-01T12:56:44.799-05:00Happy New Years to you all !!Happy New Years to you all !!Manoj Samantahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04264467983614167240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-66322987268680954082014-01-01T11:04:08.868-05:002014-01-01T11:04:08.868-05:00Well, one thing is that you'll never feel the ...Well, one thing is that you'll never feel the same when you hear or use the phrase "just horsing around"!Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-70391108550683940102014-01-01T08:29:26.579-05:002014-01-01T08:29:26.579-05:00Already I'm mistaken. You might not need hands...Already I'm mistaken. You might not need hands to fluff a horse! Should probably read up on these things before just spouting off tales...Holly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-24553246607011478972014-01-01T08:26:33.713-05:002014-01-01T08:26:33.713-05:00I heard it was called 'fluffing" and only...I heard it was called 'fluffing" and only us humans with our superior hands can do it. But maybe chimps can too. This is what you need to find out. This could be the answer to why we and not chimps domesticated horses.Holly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-79338999226471123982014-01-01T08:24:02.714-05:002014-01-01T08:24:02.714-05:00What? You've never heard of 'hoofing'...What? You've never heard of 'hoofing'? What kind of deprived environment did you grow up in? (Actually, I'm kidding. But do you really believe that horses' tails, which they are _constantly_ flipping back and forth--back _there_!--are really for swishing flies away?? That would be an other silly just-so story since the real use is obvious for all to see)Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-31976658711092478212014-01-01T08:19:58.542-05:002014-01-01T08:19:58.542-05:00It's going to be difficult. Too bad our closes...It's going to be difficult. Too bad our closest relative isn't the horse or an equally manually deprived creature. That would make it much easier to pull this off. Unless you want to apply this explanation all the way back to the origin of Primates? Holly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-41490167815283006822014-01-01T08:16:51.016-05:002014-01-01T08:16:51.016-05:00Actually the traits measured in #1 are what need t...Actually the traits measured in #1 are what need to be used in #2. Should have made that more explicit. Holly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-40894430719191957162014-01-01T08:13:46.069-05:002014-01-01T08:13:46.069-05:00Oh right. What was I thinking? Oh right. What was I thinking? Holly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-23993462288853729192014-01-01T08:12:09.966-05:002014-01-01T08:12:09.966-05:00Yes, except your #3, because it was the _absence_ ...Yes, except your #3, because it was the _absence_ of sex toys that proved the hand did not evolve for tool use.<br /><br />#4 is certainly on the mark, because genitalia are already tools, by which individuals manipulate each other in the social sense (as well, perhaps, as the tactile one), such as by tricking them into marriage, substantial fees new car purchases and so on.Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-48586903467599412412014-01-01T08:06:49.188-05:002014-01-01T08:06:49.188-05:00How to proceed? Some thoughts...
1. Determine some...How to proceed? Some thoughts...<br />1. Determine somehow that human hand (wrist, arm, ...) is superior (speed, efficiency, ...) to pleasuring self or others than chimpanzee hand. This is key. We have strong evidence that this is the case for stone tool production so pressure's on.<br />2. Link some aspect (frequency?) of handjobs to reproductive success in living chimpanzees and humans. <br />3. Leave dildos out of it because fashioning them takes us back to the tool explanation for hands, trumping this one. <br />4. Redefine the genitalia as tools and incorporate this new idea into to the long-held one that already reigns. Nothing changes in the story of human evolution except now when we tell it we can be more openly cheeky.Holly Dunsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05260104967932801186noreply@blogger.com